Washington — The Education Department made mistakes in the review process for two federal TRIO programs for disadvantaged students that may have cost some new applicants their awards, says a report released on Monday by the department’s inspector general.

At issue is the Office of Postsecondary Education’s awarding of “prior-experience points,” which are supposed to go to applicants that have previously received the grants. According to the report, the office “inappropriately awarded” prior-experience points in the 2006 Educational Opportunity Centers and Talent Search grant competitions, awarding points to grantees that did not meet minimum program requirements and awarding partial points to some applicants, while making multiple documentation and transcription errors.

Those errors may have resulted in some new applicants’ being wrongly denied the grants, according to the report.

The Educational Opportunity Centers program provides college-admissions counseling to qualified adults, and the Talent Search program provides academic, career, and financial counseling to certain students and encourages them to graduate from high school.

The report recommends that the office stop awarding partial-experience points and develop a new way to assess prior experience, among other changes. —Kelly Field